“Surely, there is a palpable change among the blast accused in the prison. They are happier. We think this government is far more humane,” M H Abdur Rehman, one of the lawyers defending Mahdani told The Indian Express.

The accused are taken to the special court trying the bomb blast case almost everyday.

The Jayalalithaa regime had taken precautions to conduct surprise checks to ensure that none of the “banned” items find their way in.

But under the new dispensation, the mandatory surprise raids and checks on the HS (High Security) Block, which houses the blast accused, have dramatically reduced, a senior jail employee said.

On July 6, the DMK government quietly permitted Soofiya, Mahdani’s wife to sit in on her husband’s treatment for two hours as ayurvedic principles demanded that “someone close” to the patient administer the “internal” medicines. This, despite an arrest warrant pending against Soofiya in a case relating to her allegedly smuggling in a SIM card for her husband.

The Coimbatore Race Course police station registered cases against her under Sections 353 and 506 (ii) of IPC for “obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty” and “criminal intimidation.”

She subsequently left for Kerala and after that returned for the first time on July 6. The previous day, her lawyer moved the Madras High Court for anticipatory bail and obtained a direction granting her two weeks’ time to appear before the Coimbatore judicial magistrate.

In fact, in the pre-blast days, the DMK, then ruling Tamil Nadu (1996-2001), was accused of flirting with Muslim militancy and turning a blind eye to the activities of Jehadi groups like the Al Umma.

... contd.